Revelation
by BeccaBreaksThings
Summary: While the others are out, Mike discovers Emily crying in her room and stumbles upon the Yellow Ranger's painful secret. Memily one shot. Trigger warning - self-harm.


As Mike trudged inside after a hard afternoon's sparring with Jayden, he heard an odd, muffled sound that sent a feeling of dread settling deep in his stomach. Somebody was crying – and since the others were all out shopping for dinner, he knew exactly who.

Emily.

His hands curled into fists by his sides, like he could somehow fight away whatever was upsetting her. _If only it was that easy. _Mike sighed and clenched his jaw as a resolve settled over him – he would try to talk her around, though his chances of success were slim to none. He had to do it for their sweet little Yellow Ranger.

"Hey, Em?" He knocked lightly on the door to the room she shared with Mia, flinching with every sob he heard from within. There was a muffled 'thump!' followed by three hiccuping coughs which tugged at his heartstrings.

"Go away," she mumbled, her voice cracking in protest as she tried to play fine. Emily had grown distant in the past few weeks. She'd train with them, fight with them, eat with them, but the real Emily was never present. It was like watching a shell of someone once known and much loved, but none of the others seemed to have noticed.

Mike had tried talking to Mia about it on several occasions, but she had dismissed him as trying to stir things up, claiming that as Emily's room-mate she knew exactly what was going on. Mia always insisted that Emily was fine.

_Point Green, _Mike thought miserably, knocking again. "Em, it's me. Is everything okay in there?" He wanted to hit himself for his own stupidity. Of course it wasn't okay – she was _crying _for crap's sake.

"I'm fine," came Emily's shaky reply. "Just... Just go away. P-please? I'll be out in a minute."

There was something other than sadness in her voice – pain, perhaps? - that set Mike on edge. He could feel himself beginning to physically shake with worry for the girl, a nasty foreboding jabbing at his conscious mind. While he could easily have stormed his way in, Mike wouldn't let himself do that out of both respect and some deeper, warmer emotion for his fellow Ranger.

"Open the door," Mike called. "Open the door and let me in, we can talk about whatever's upsetting you."

Another thump, the shuffling of bare feet along the floor as Emily undoubtedly tried to find some place to hide. Her cries were still present, growing quicker and more painful to listen to. Mike sucked in a deep breath – he'd give her one more chance to let him help her. After that, he feared his actions would no longer be his own.

"Come on, Emily. It's just me. Everyone else is gone." Mike rested his head against the door, trying to hear what was going on inside. Three more sobs settled it for him – he opened the door.

"Emily?" Mike took a tentative step inside, struck by how much cleaner the girls' room was compared to the one he shared with Kevin. He could even see their floor. It was that small wonder which stole his attraction just long enough for him to notice it – blood. A few spots on the floor and more still on the yellow blanket which covered Emily's bed.

His heart raced. He looked around, couldn't see her.

"Emily?" Mike darted towards the bed, ducking to look under it and check that she wasn't hiding under there. It was clear, just like the space beneath Mia's. He could barely breathe through panic, his vision blurring as he wheeled around to try and find her.

The bathroom.

Mike had almost forgotten about the door by the girls' closet which lead into a tiny bathroom Mentor Ji had set aside for their privacy. Sure enough, the closer he got, the clearer he could hear Emily's hurried breathing on the other side. He swallowed back his underlying fear and reluctance, stepping inside without a word.

When he found her, Emily was curled up in the smooth white bathtub, her knees protecting her face from view. On the right sleeve of her yellow jacket, there were more than a few lines of blood cutting the otherwise cheerful material.

"Emily?" Mike approached slowly, crouching down in hopes of getting a better look at her. What little anger he had been feeling all melted away at the sorry sight in front of him – all he could feel was pure worry. He surprised even himself with just how much he could care. So much for the team slacker.

She shuddered and ducked her head further towards her knees, trying to fade from view. For an awful moment, Mike thought she wasn't going to speak to him. It was a relief for all concerned when Emily gathered the courage to mumble, "I'm o-okay."

"Hey." Mike reached out and lightly touched her shoulder, surprised when she didn't flinch out of his reach. "Look at me a sec. Promise I won't turn you to stone."

Emily shook her head, the movement tickling Mike's hand as her curly hair brushed against it. "No, thank you."

"C'mon." Mike forced a smile for her sake. "If you do, I promise I'll sneak us a pizza when Jayden brings back all the usual rabbit food. Topping of your choice."

"Really?" Emily squeaked, wiping her nose on the bloodied sleeve. She seemed horrified herself when she noticed the red stains, eyes widening as she looked from Mike to her arm and back again. "Did I... Did I do it a-again?"

Mike held out his hand wordlessly, gesturing for her to show him the damage. He was glad when Emily complied and he carefully, so as not to hurt her any more, pushed the fabric up out of the way. The bloodstains made it look worse than it was – there were four horizontal lines close to Emily's elbow, none of which Mike thought looked deep enough to need stitches. That didn't stop unshed tears burning beneath his eyes.

"Why'd you do this, Em?" he asked quietly, not expecting an answer at all. Releasing his hold on her arm, Mike turned to fish one of the house's many first aid kits out from under the sink. Emily didn't speak until he'd started to clean and dress the wounds.

"I... I don't know," she whispered through another of those heart-wrenching sobs. Emily wasn't afraid to cry for herself, tears spilling down her pale cheeks and splashing at her shirt collar. "I've been feeling really weird lately. Since that Nighlok who made us all hate each other."

Mike looked up from his gentle work to meet Emily's watery eyes. Where they usually held innocence and light, all he could see was a troubling darkness. "Did you tell Mentor Ji about any of this? Or Jayden?"

Emily shook her head, panic pinching her features. "Please don't tell them! I know they already think I'm-"

"Think you're what?" Mike's eyes widened in alarm. It was all he could do just then to hold himself back from trying to hug her, to physically comfort her in some way until she felt she could open up to him. He had to remind himself of his boundaries – she was hurting because of something to do with the job, he had to be professional.

"It doesn't matter." Emily pulled her arm back to her chest the second Mike had finished securing the pristinely white bandage. She shrugged out of her jacket and set it in her lap, staring at the ruined yellow as a fresh wave of tears overcame her.

Mike didn't know what to do. Of all the Rangers, he was sure he must have had the least experience with crying women. It didn't matter that Emily was his best friend, or even that he wanted her to be more than that. She deserved better than him.

_You're all she's got, _he reminded himself. _While the others are gone, she's your responsibility. Make sure she's okay._

He reached out a hand, palm-up. "Here," he said, "I'll take that for you."

Emily immediately snatched up the jacket and brought it close to her chest for safe-keeping. "I can't do that," she said. "You'll show it to them, and then they'll know I'm not cut out for this. Everybody already thinks I'm just here as the back-up plan because my sister got sick, I don't need them to see this, too."

"I promise I won't say a word," Mike said, though deep in his heart he knew he shouldn't make her those promises. Her life might depend on it if she got any worse. Sense of reasoning didn't stop him. "I'll help you cover for it. On one condition."

Emily hesitated, swiped her hands under her eyes, and turned to face him. It was awkward with her sitting in the tub, but she was just small enough to manage it comfortably. "What's that?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"Talk to me."

They sat like that for a long moment before Emily made her decision. Her eyes fluttered shut and she sucked in a deep, calming breath before refocusing her attention on Mike. Slowly, as if afraid, she held out the jacket to him. Mike took it from her and smiled his relief. "I'll be right back, okay? Just give me five minutes to sort this."

He was gone almost as soon as she'd nodded, making sure to take the ruined blanket from her bed with him, too. Mike had a great many hiding places in the house, so for the time being he stashed Emily's belongings along with some of his favourite games – the ones Ji thought he had confiscated. On his way back to the girls' room, he grabbed a replacement blanket for Emily's bed, and a few cleaning supplies to clear up the remaining evidence that anything out of the ordinary had happened. Thanks to years of making messes and being forced to clean them up, he was surprisingly efficient, and back to Emily in no time.

She stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom, watching her reflection sadly as Mike came up behind her.

"I got it all," Mike said after a pause to catch his breath. "Nobody has to know a thing."

Emily smiled at him in the mirror and, while it was a ghost of her usual happy grin, it was progress enough that he felt like celebrating. She turned to face him, standing on her tiptoes to try and make eye contact. "Thank you," she whispered. Curiosity and wanting played out on her pretty features as she watched Mike and he watched her in return. Carefully, Emily stepped forward and wound her arms around his waist, burying her head in his woody smell.

Mike stiffened for a fraction of a second, surprised by how forward she was being given the situation. He didn't want to take advantage of her, but there was no force on earth that could stop Mike as he brought his arms up to return the embrace. His head fit perfectly atop Emily's. "It's okay," he said, rubbing soothing circles in her back when he felt wetness that meant she had started to cry again. "It's okay. You're okay. I'm here, Em, and I'm not going anywhere."

"You mean it?" said Emily, though the question was muffled by her faceful of Mike. "I, uh, I wanted to say..."

Several loud voices broke the moment before Emily could say whatever was on her mind, the other Rangers calling out to beckon Yellow and Green to dinner. They all sounded so happy and excited that, for just a minute, it was easy to forget that anything was up at all.

Mike carefully detached himself from Emily, but not before he dropped a gentle kiss on her forehead. He looked down at her, swiping away the last remnants of tears before any of their friends could see. "Tomorrow," he said, "we talk."


End file.
